Frozen Sunset

At least that's how it felt. Of course I chose to go take sunset photos on the coldest day of the week. o.o I was wearing this sweater/tights outfit which, while arguably cute, offered no protection against the freezing wind. It tore-- at least it did in my mind-- against the lake, going right through my skimpy layers, and numbing my fingers until I could barely press the shutter down.

All for the shoot, eh? ;) Anyway, this was my first time shooting sunset pictures at the lake in a lonnngg time. My friend wasn't able to show up until after the sun had fallen behind the trees, so it was just me and another friend who, after finding the swings, was content to just stay there.

My friend is actually swinging on the other swing; I had to time my pictures so that he wasn't in them ;)

This was my first time at a winter sunset; I was surprised at how quickly the sun disappeared. I was reading this article recently, and it suggested that you find a location and sit for five/ten minutes, taking everything in, and looking for photo opportunities. If I had done that, by the time the ten minutes were up and I could actually take pictures, the sun would have been gone.

I just loved the color of the water. It was so beautifully clear, and most likely icy cold. It's probably a good thing that I didn't have anyone to be a model, like I did with my friend in the summer. They wouldn't take too kindly to my suggestion that they stand in the water so I could get some good silhouettes... That was another difference between this session and all the other times I had shoot at this lake. It was just me and the water. I couldn't rely on replicating my previous shoots, I was forced to try new stuff. And while I didn't walk away with any particular favorite, it was a good exercise, making me try new approaches to photographing the lake at sunset.

Also, I have a before/after to show you. I kept my camera on auto white balance the whole time I believe-- I just never paid any attention to it. So, my photos were rather cold. But after a while I get sick of the 'shade' setting because everything is just so warm! I read a book that advised to always shoot in 'shade' setting, as a way to warm up the photos. Normally I do, and I like the results. However, after a while, it gets tiresome, every photo being so warm. Besides, 'shade' does not work at alllll in the house. *shudder* I took a whole series of photos with the shade setting in my house once. I was young, didn't know any better. They were all so warm it was awful.

Anyway! Enough with the past mistakes ;)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I just tried to make the photo look more like it did to my eye; warming it up, enhancing some of the golden tones, ect.